Medical Leave-Taking After the FMLA: An Empirical Analysis of Affirmative Employment Rights

This Article represents the first empirical analysis of the possible effects that the Family Medical and Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) had on medical leave-taking patterns within the general population. I estimate changes in work-leave rates for both one’s own illness and family members’ medical conditions through the natural experiment created by the existence of state-level FMLA-like statutes before 1993. Applying two identification strategies to an original, more finely-tuned coding of state laws and using the previously unexploited Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) from 1987 through 2006, I find no robust evidence that the FMLA affected either form of leave-taking. In light of this “null” result, I consider several possible explanations and discuss more general lessons for the empirical study of employment rights laws. I also argue, contrary to many accounts of the FMLA’s failure, that a null finding may be consistent with the FMLA having generated benefits for covered employees even if the statute did not increase leave-taking rates.